Leading EU CEOs warn Brussels data law could hurt competitiveness

The CEOs of a number of main European firms have urged the Fee to tug the brake on plans to regulate the use and entry of knowledge generated within the bloc arguing they may trigger lasting injury to the bloc’s competitiveness and cybersecurity.

In a letter despatched to Fee President Ursula von der Leyen and Competitors Commissioner Margrethe Vestager final week and seen by Euronews, they wrote of their “deep considerations” concerning the content material and velocity of the inter-institutional negotiations over the Information Act warning that the laws might, in its present type, endanger European management and innovation.

The signatories of the letter — which embrace the CEOs of Siemens AG and Healthineers, SAP, Brainlab and Datev — demand to be acquired by the EU’s govt at their “earliest comfort”.

The European Information Act was unveiled by the Fee in February 2022 to create harmonised guidelines on honest entry to and use of knowledge throughout the 27 nations of the bloc. It’s meant to permit for simpler knowledge sharing between companies and customers, companies and companies and companies and governments in addition to enabling clients to successfully change between totally different cloud data-processing companies suppliers.

The Fee stated on the time that the regulation would create a good digital surroundings, stimulate a aggressive knowledge market, open alternatives for data-driven innovation and make knowledge extra accessible for all.

However the 5 CEOs and DigitaLEurope, a commerce organisation representing digitally reworking industries throughout the bloc, say the trilogue negotiations between the Fee, MEPs and member states are actually going at “break-neck velocity” and that there’s “little room to debate these advanced particulars in depth”.

They argue, for example, that being compelled to share knowledge with different firms couldn’t solely make them reveal particulars about their inside techniques, processes, or applied sciences that would depart them susceptible to malicious actors, but in addition profit opponents, particularly third-country operators who might not need to abide by the identical guidelines. 

“This not solely undermines EU competitiveness and innovation, but in addition raises questions relating to EU know-how management,” they write.

Stefan Vielsmeier, CEO of Brainlab, added in a press release that “the proposed regulation will quite weaken Europe’s financial system in competing with particularly China, by forcing firms to disclose an unprecedented stage of perception into associated enterprise practices and worth chains.”

They, subsequently, name for the implementation of safeguards. These embrace the precise to refuse to share knowledge with different companies the place commerce secrets and techniques, cybersecurity, well being and security are in danger, the peace of mind that when governments demand entry to knowledge, it’s “proportionate and restricted to obviously outlined emergency conditions, varieties of knowledge and public our bodies”.

Euronews has reached out to the European Fee for remark.